The Arizona sentinel., 1887-06-25
VICTORY AND VICTORIA.
A Comparison Between NeIson's F1agshIp
 and a Modern Iron-Cl1d.


 Sir William Armstrong. in the course of his speech on the launch oi the new British iron-clad Victoria, made some interesting remarks on the past and present of English men-of- war. 'In an esthetic point of view, he said, ''it must be confessed our ships have sadly deteriorated. No more beautiful object could be seen than a great man-of-war of the old type under press of sail. Poets and painters have delighted in depicting it; but the engineer appreciates power more than beauty, and while Ruskir would stigmatize a modern warship as devil ship, the engineer regards il as splendid triumph of mechanical skill" Sir William then went on tc take particular instance, and com pared the new Victoria with the old Victory. The Victory. in accordance with the usage of the time, was bull oi oak; the Victoria, in accordance with present practice, is built of iron. The The Victory was propelled by wind, over which man has no control; the Victoria will be propelled by steam, over which man has perfect mastery. The Victory had the character of be- ing an extraordinary quick sailer, and when the wind in it's vagaries hap pened to be exceptionally propitious she could attain speed of nearly thir- teen knots an hour. The Victoria, propelled by engines of more than 12,- 000-horse-power, may be expected to achieve about seventeen knots an hour, and will be independent of the wind. In regard to armament, the comparison in favor of the Victoria is astounding, and ought to open the eyes of those who are in the habit of disparaging the progress of artillery in this country. The armament of the Victory. as she fought at Ira falgar, consisted of thirty S2- pounders, thirty 24-pounders, forty 12-pounders. and two 6S- pounder carronades, making in all 1O2 guns. The heavest of these guns was under three tons, while the heaviest on board the Victory is 110 tons. The largest charge of powder used in the Victory Was 8 pounds, while the larg- est charge to be used in the Victoria will be 900 pounds. The heaviest shot used in the Victory was 6S pounds, while in the Victoria it will be 1,SOO pounds. The weight of metal dis charged from the broadside of the Victory was 1,15O pounds, against 4,750 pounds from that of the Victoria, but the power of the broadside dis charge from each ship IS better indi- cated by the quantity of powder ex- pended than by the weight of metal discharged, and while the broadside fire from the Victory consumed only 225 pounds, that from the Victoria will consume only 5000 pounds. In point of range, accuracy. penetrating power and shell power, the difference is so great in favor of the Victoria that a comparison would be ridiculous l have yet to give you the particulars of the Victoria's armament. It will con- sist of two 110-guns, mounted in a re- volving turret, and firing ahead or on either side; one 30-ton gun, firing astern or on either aside, twelve 5-ton guns; twelve 6-pounder quick-firing guns, and nine 3-pounder quick-fring guns, and considerable number of machine-guns for small ammunition. Besides her artillery armament the Victoria has powerful ram. and she carries eight torpedo discharges, four above and four below water. In the fighting days of the Victoria, ramming was little practiced, and torpedoes were wholly unknown. Therefore in these respects no comparison can be drawn, but there is another point of view in wich the Victoria compares in highly favorable degree with the Victory, and that is in the smallness of the number of officers and men re- quired to handle the ships. The con- plement of offers and men on board the Victory was $50, while on board the Victoria it will only be $50, of whom no will be engineers and stok- CTS, leaving only 440 officers and men in a combatant capacity. Thus, al- though the Victoria is three times as big as the Victory and prodlgiously su- perlor in offensive power, there will only be half the number of men ex- posed to death and wounds in the working of her armament. This re- suit is chiefly due to the mechanical which in recent years have been introduced for working the guns. London Telegraph.